Class Advice

To the incoming group of students taking Introductory Chemistry as a 1-block summer course. Below are comments from the previous group of students given near the end of the block. Heed their advice as they are deep within the course and have an excellent perspective. I hope they are helpful to you.

In order to pass this class, pay attention and ask a lot of questions. Usually we got out of lab early and therefore had more time to study. SO ASK QUESTIONS in class. It is not an easy class and requires your full attention for the next four weeks. Do your practice problems each night and ask questions on the ones you are not sure on the next day. It was fun and I feel that I learned a great amount in such a short time, but it wasn't easy! Don't get too stressed, focus and ask questions, but most of all don't give up. After your first day in class it may seem impossible but its not! Remind yourself that its only four weeks and that the end of the class will be just around the corner. If their is extra credit, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!!! Like I said it is not impossible, I learned a lot and it was fun too! Good Luck!

This class is going to take you to the limit. The first week or two you will probably wonder why you took it, but in the end you will be glad that you did. Just make sure to take good notes, do the homework, dont blow off the extra credit, and show up to every class. Dr. J is a good teacher and will try to help you as much as possible so take advantage of it. Other than that, just stay focused and before you know it, the class will be over and you will feel great about it!

Considering that the course is ONLY four weeks long, the best advice that I can give would be to come to class EVERYDAY! There is so much information in such a short amount of time, that if you miss even thirty minutes of lecture, you will miss out on a ton of important information. Also, make sure to ASK QUESTIONS if you don't understand something. If you fail to ask, you will get lost easily and it will be VERY HARD to catch up! Next, make sure and take VERY accurate notes and write down EVERYTHING! Lastly, in the beginning there is A LOT of math involved. I'm not a math person at all, and still did ok; however, I would recommend a tutor if math is NOT your fortay. :) The class isn't easy but by participating fully (attend ALL classes, be accurate on labs, be very detailed on your lab reports, do extra credit, if available, and take VERY thorough notes), you can pass the class with an A or B! Take a deep breath and be prepared NOT to do anything else but STUDY, STUDY, STUDY for the next four weeks!!

This is a great course to take and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. At first it will seem near impossible to be in class at 8:00 am every morning, but it gets easier. I think something that will help anyone taking this class is to make sure and do the challenge questions of the homework. If you can get to where you master the challenge questions then the rest should be easy. I would also tell you to re-write or simply review the notes that you take in the morning that night so that you really understand it all. I believe if you stick the course out you will be really glad you did and more than likely end up with a good grade if you applied some effort.

What I learned from this class is to come every day to class and take good notes of the lecture. In addition, the student must read the chapters ahead and after the class. It is very helpful to be familiar with the material everyday because we learned around 5 chapters per week. Yes, it is very speed!! You must do all the homework which can reinforce your comprehension. Before each exam, the teacher post a detailed study guide which covers what will be in the exam. On the other hand, there are extra credits offered to improve your grade. What I liked the most about this class is the fact that the teacher was very helpful. He answered all the questions we had! Hope you follow the advices to get a good grade!! Good luck!

Be sure that you can make it to every class. In this short amount of time you will learn a lot each day, so if you miss one day you will miss a ton of information. Make sure that you go to each lab!! They not only help your grade but they are actually fun. Last but not least study, study, study for the tests!! Don't get stressed...It's not that bad.

Prepare yourself... This is not fun or enjoyable in any way. I've hated my life for the past four weeks. Taking IntroChem in one month was the best/worst decision of my life. I'm glad i did it but, i'm not sure i'd do it again. Keys to Success: 1. Do not miss a class!!! 2. Read the Chapters. (I didn't and it cost me a letter grade) 3. Do the Homework. (At least attempt it) 4. Take good notes. (Just a good idea) 5. Set by the smartest person in class. (Not mandatory but, its usually an attractive girl who wants to be a nurse. Strongly encouraged)

Chemistry doesn't have to be as hard as everyone says it is. For the most part, study ALL of the material that you go over in class. If you have questions about it, or do not understand, make sure you ask. You don't want to get behind when learning concepts, because they all connect together. So if you don't understand one part, you more than likely won't understand the others. Doing the homework is a MUST. If you can understand and do the homework questions, then you will have a better chance of getting a good grade on your test. Use the review time wisely. He is more than willing to answer any questions you may have concerning the homework, so there is no reason why you shouldnt understand the homework! Last but not least, use the tutors!! They are there to help you in times that the professor may not be able to. They do an awesome job with answering any questions you may have, so take advantage of the extra help that is given to you!

Come to class everyday is a very important thing in this course. If you attend class everyday and pay attention to the lecture it will be a great thing taking this course now. If you dont come to class and dont pay attention while in class it will make your time in the class a very stressful time and make it a waste of your time. The labs a very fun and tie in with what you are learning in the class. Do the problems in the book and once your able to do them youll be able to do the problems on the test. I am very glad i decieded to take the course now because i came to class and pay attention and did the problems in the book and it made things so much easier.

Some advice I can give others is that first of all study groups. I found this to be very helpful. By doing this you can gain advice from other fellow classmates. Also take good notes and be sure to show up to class everyday. If you happen to miss a class then you will pretty much be at least one chapter behind everyone else. Another thing is that I found it very helpful to read each chapter before and after class. I went to the tudors at least two to three times a week even if I understood the material, just to get another look at the chapters. It is a tough class because its all combined into 16 days. If you do not study or don't show up for class you will fail. All I kept saying to myself is that its just 16 days of hard studying and I wont have to do it ever again. So go in the class knowing that you will study and put the time into it and you will pass the class.

This class has a lot of information in a short amount of time, so be ready to work! The labs are alright and they help improve your grade, so take your time on those. If you like math you are in luck, because just about the first two weeks is all calculations. Having said that, the class is alright, and its a good way to knock out a class very fast.

There are several key points to being successful in this class. Always do your homework even though it is not worth a grade it is great practice for what you are learning. Take good notes and if you have a question do not hesitate to ask. If you feel like you are struggling in the beginning get a tutor as soon as possible. Always go to class. Missing one day of class can put you back pretty far and playing catch up in chemistry is not easy. Following all these tips should make for a successful grade in chemistry.

Strap your helmet on and get carried. In my opinion it is almost impossible to go through this course by yourself. You will need to go to class every day,do your assigned homework problems,any extra credit, don't miss your labs,and take advantage of the tutor's and study groups. Hopefully this helps and goodluck!

In order to be successful I think that it is extremely important to ask question. If you don't understand a concept during lecture nine times out of ten you are going to walk way from the classroom not understand and since Chemistry builds upon it's self concept after concept, it's important that you make sure that you have mastered it's understanding one concept at a time from the more simple to the more complex. I think that my second piece of advice would be to try and get with others in the class and form a study group if you can. For me at least, I feel like some things I can better understand if a peer explains it to me rather than a teacher because peers explain things I would say, in a more "simple" fashion which I think helps alot. Lastly, if you want to be successful just make sure that you come to class, make sure that you get there on time, that you are attentive, take good notes and ask questions. It is a fast pace class but you can do it!

This course in a single semester block is CRAZY! Get sleep and a hearty breakfast because you will need it to get this slam packed course. Also, do the homework assigned, even if it isn't graded. It will help on the test. Always ask questions. The first two weeks will overwhelm you, stick it out. Do the extra credit, it will help!

This class coveres a lot of material in a short amount of time. If you have a lot of other obligations, you may want to drop this course. The homework is a very important part of the course. Make sure you ask any questions about it before moving on to the next section. Each class and Lab builds up from the previous section, if you don't understand something you can get lost very fast! Use good sources of information and be sure to cite them. Take the time to do neat work on your Labs and homework, so if there is a problem it can be found easily. In conclusion, don't miss any classes. Make sure to do the homework and ask any about it. Most importantly, learn to think outside of the box and you just might survive!

I was extremely nervous coming into Intro to Chem due to my lack there of in the math department. I had a little bit of a hard time with some of the equations throughout the course, but Dr. J was extremely helpful! The class is very beneficial in reguards to a lot of the related majors such as; nursing, kinesiology, chemistry, safety, and many more. This broadens your knowledge of the course and enables you to look at different chemical equations, problematic situations, and other various encounters from a different perspective. I recommend this class to anyone who is in need of a chemistry credit, and to take Dr. J! As long as you follow through throughout the course with your labs, and tests, you should be fine. The tests aren't short by any means. There is a lot of information to retain and upkeep. Doing the homework throughout the course is very helpful when reguarding to the exams. In the beginning, you may think you have no hope after the first exam and first couple of labs..DO NOT DROP. In order to pass this class, you simply need to be attentive, and ready to learn. If the professor sees that you are trying and working hard, they will help you through with whatever you're lacking. Simply do the homework, come to all the labs, and ASK QUESTIONS!!

The first and most important thing is to have your book on the first day of class!!!!!! Make sure you practice all homework given(even if you don't have to turn it in)practiceing the homework will provide you with the questions to ask in class the next day that you are unsure about. Use the tutor if you don't understand the homework and the lecture. Everything builds off of everything in the first two weeks and if you dont understand the first week of material, you will be completly lost the second week. I can't tell you how important it is to have a good and reliable study group, support from each other will pull you through the class. Finally, if at all possible try to let this be the only class you take, because it consumes all of your time, and if you do not dedicate yourself 100% you will not be able to keep up, and once you fall behind it is very difficult to catch up and be able to retain the new information given each day.